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Front brake reservoir

dogdad

dogdad

Active Member
Got a new rear brake pad put on at my HD dealer,,,,got home and cleaned the bike,,,,then noticed that the front brake reservoir is corroding from the brake juice,,,, which is a replacement for the leaking factory reservoir that came with the bike. Anyone else having issues on this?? Would it matter if I got the chrome replacement instead?
 
Don't know the year of your bike, but if it uses Dot 4 brake fluid, it is Ethylene Glycol based and corrosive once the anticorrosion elements in the fluid breakdown over time and mixes with water which is heavier and gets trapped in the lower areas of the braking system. By all means read the DOT type fluid on the cap, and if the corrosion happens to be in the cap only consider yourself lucky as replacements are fairly inexpensive. Replacing the whole master cylinder with a chrome one will help, but if your bike is dated, you may consider replaceing the lines, crossover and other hardware while you are at it.:s

The real key here is, to routinely FLUSH the system with fresh brake fluid every 2-3 years...from the farthest point to the nearest pioint to the m/c. Your bike and braking system will reward you with long life, "dragging brakes" and mantenance. I buy Castrol DOT4 in big jug and flush all my vehicles. But my Sporty uses DOT 5 so I just buy a small bottle use the whole thing to bleed and flush both braking systems entirely (Dual caliper fronts and Single caliper out back).:D
 
It's an 08 RK......just find it difficult to take in that I have to a replace the brake reservoir for a second time (making it the third one on the bike) because of leaking and corrosion.
 
The gasket is indeed a problem. If you tighten the cover screws more than they are supposed to be tightened (just snug), it mis shapes the gasket and it leaks. Seems they could come up with a better system for this if they tried.
 
They could use screws that break away once the proper torque is applied. They could look real nice like those under the HDI RK handlebar cover.
 
glens said:
They could use screws that break away once the proper torque is applied. They could look real nice like those under the HDI RK handlebar cover.
Click to expand...

GlenS is being facetious...:no as I can feel his frustration from the RK thread! I think just about everybody agrees ANY breakaway screws either by design (or not) is NOT a crowd pleaser and definitely will be dealt with severely with anger most righteous...with fire and brimstone vetted by Harley riders everywhere...:devil Wish I could remember that famous line from Pulp Fiction that Samuel Jackson said right now...
 
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I am now on my 3rd. front brake resevoir.the first one because of leakage,second one cracked at the left rear corner.I think they cracked it when they installed it because I noticed a slight seeping after the first day.

Hobbit,by your post above I see you are a fan of the movie Pulp fiction:D
 
Well I paid the difference and got the "bling-bling" top put on . A little more chrome won't hurt and I was told the chrome won't corrode.....Curious to see how many more times I'll be changing this new one out.
 
mine came back from the dealer s 10k service, and i seen the corrosion at about 18k, i did the 15k and did not touch the brack res. i loosened the screws a tad and cleaned the remaining fluid up, it stopped leaking but the damage is done, i guess its chrome controls on the bars for xmas:D
 
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